“We did everything to avoid the war” — South Ossetian president

On the second anniversary of the war in South Ossetia, the country’s president, Eduard Kokoity, spoke exclusively to RT, sharing his experience of the conflict.

He said South Ossetia was doing everything possible to avoid the worst scenario of events, but Georgia showed no signs of wrapping up the military operation against South Ossetia.

“As the supreme commander-in-chief for 40 minutes [after Georgia’s first attack], I wasn’t giving the order to counter fire, even though we knew the attack was being prepared,” Kokoity told RT. “We did not even announce mobilization so that the international community would not blame South Ossetia for provoking and aggravating the situation. We only called to arms on the [August 8].”